Category: Miles

  1. The Synchrony Mastercard has an increased sign-up bonus of $100 after $1,000 spend in 60 days. The card earns a flat 2%, and carries no annual fee. Also, I know it’s redundant but it’s Synchrony.
  2. American Express has a 30% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic through November 30.
  3. Capital One added Copa ConnectMiles as a 2000:1500 transfer partner. There’s a 30% transfer bonus through December 1, pushing the ratio to 2000:1950 because why keep it simple when you can be annoying? Sweet spots:

    – United domestic Polaris, 25,000 miles each way, plus decent non-saver award pricing
    – Emirates business: 80,000 miles each way with minimal surcharge

    Copa ConnectMiles expire after 24 months but expiration is easily reset with activity.
  4. Giftcards.com has a $10 bonus giftcards.com gift card with the purchase of a $100 Visa e-gift card using promo code GIVEMORE. This code is now on all the major airline portals, so hit those bonuses.

Happy Tuesday friends!

Preview of Capital One’s next transfer partner.

  1. The Barclays Mastercard Black has a new sign-up bonus of 75,000 points (worth $1,500 toward airfare) after $6,000 spend in 90 days. Never heard of it? That’s probably because it’s got a stupid-high annual fee and typically no sign-up bonus. The card’s vitals:

    – $699 annual fee
    – Effectively 2% earner on purchases, at least as long as you redeem for airfare
    – $200 annual airline credit
    – $100 annual dining credit
    – A Priority Pass with restaurant access

    If you’ve got the right angle and dig deep, there’s a little hidden value in this card.
  2. Safeway, Albertsons, Vons, and other Just4U stores have 10x points earning on Zift Zillions cards through Saturday, but caveat emptor: As of yesterday evening, these points weren’t properly posting.
  3. Staples stores have fee-free $200 Visa gift cards through Saturday, limit nine per transaction.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  4. Office Depot / OfficeMax stores have $15 off of $300+ in Visa gift cards through Saturday, always buy in even multiples of $300. Why? Math.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  5. American Express Membership Rewards has two transfer bonuses:

    – 25% to AirFrance/KLM FlyingBlue (1:1 → 1:1.25) through October 30
    – 20% to AeroMexico Club Premier (1:1.6 → 1:1.92) through October 31

    Why 1:1.6? Something about the metric system #themoreyouknow.
  6. Marriott Bonvoy has a 15% transfer bonus to Air Canada Aeroplan through October 31. In 60,000 point increments, the transfer ratio under the bonus is 6:2.8.
  7. American Express offers has $75 off of $350+ at Hertz through October 14.

Happy Monday friends!

A churner discovers value in the stupidly named Barclays Mastercard Black Card.

  1. Do this now: Register for Hyatt’s Q4 promotion for 3,000 bonus points for every three nights through December 15, limit 36,000 bonus points.

    In case you’re curious about dumb things, there are 25 three night blocks between now and December 15, which is 13 more than are eligible for the bonus.
  2. U.S. Bank sunsetted its Leverage card, and added two new cards to its business portfolio:

    – Business Essentials: New card with $500 bonus after $5,000 spend in 150 days, 2% base earn
    – Business Essentials Plus: New card with $1,000 bonus after $15,000 spend in 150 days, 2% base earn, 5% back in your monthly top category up to $200,000 spend

    The Essentials card can earn 2.5% with $10,000 on deposit for up to $10,000 spend monthly. The Essentials Plus card can earn up to 3.5% cash back on all purchases up to $200,000 annually with up to $150,000 in assets on deposit.
  3. U.S. Bank has a $300 business banking bonus with promo code Q4SAV26 for new accounts through January 13, 2027:

    – Deposit $15,000 within 30 days
    – Maintain that balance through day 60

    The APY is effectively 0.05% which is effectively zero, so the main utility is to combine a Business Essentials (Plus) card with this bonus.
  4. Alaska has 20% off of economy fares booked by December 7 and flown between January 6 and March 10, 2027 with promo code D2CARD20, limit one per Atmos account.
  5. A few more Alaska quick hits:

    – They’re launching a debit card in early 2027 issued by Cross River Bank
    – Starting tomorrow, you choose how you earn miles and status based on one of distance, price, or segments for 2027
    – Starting tomorrow, you can opt in to an Atmos community that lets you earn bonus status points, miles, and weird other things
    – They’re adding transfer partners in 2027 including Bank of America
    – They’ll be retooling the business credit card in Q4

    I guess in Seattle, everything’s coming up Milhouse.

Happy Wednesday!

More dumb things.

  1. Hilton’s Q4 promotion is 3,000 Honors points for each stay at “luxury, lifestyle, resort, or all-inclusive hotels”, registration required for stays between October 15 and December 31.

    Does this mean that the Hampton hotel next to a rest-stop and a Dennys that charges “resort fees” will earn 3,000 points? I’m sure it won’t, but I think you’ve got a strong argument.
  2. Bilt added Amtrak as a 2,000:1,000 transfer partner. With Amtrak points worth roughly 2.6 cents, that means you’re cashing out Bilt at 1.3 cent each if you transfer. You can probably do better with most other Bilt partners without trying too hard.
  3. Wells Fargo has a new personal $400 checking bonus that requires UPDATE: Reader Craig sent in a better, $500 checking bonus:

    – Opening with $25
    – $1,000 in direct deposits within 90 days

    These are churnable every 12 months.
  4. Breeze has a 35% discount on base fares for flights booked today using promo code GETTHERE, and travel through February 10, 2027. Thanksgiving travel isn’t currently excluded, so if you need to go to *checks notes* Provo, UT for the holiday, there might be something here.

Happy Thursday!

Meanwhile, at Thanksgiving in Provo, UT.

  1. Capital One has a 30% transfer bonus to JAL MileageBank through September 30, bringing the transfer ratio to 1,000:975.
  2. AA has new targeted loyalty point promotions for September on your account’s promo page. Reportedly 2,000 bonus Loyalty Points with two flights booked in premium economy, business class, or first class, and flown by the end of October is widely targeted.
  3. The Citi ThankYou Mastercard sent new targeted spend offers for September. We’ve seen:

    – 10% back on up to $800 in eligible in-store and online purchases monthly for September, October, November, and December

    Most things work for these except home improvement stores, wholesale clubs, and grocery stores.
  4. AirFrance / KLM FlyingBlue released its September promo rewards. US cities:

    – Economy: Washington, Chicago New York, Detroit, Los Angeles
    – Premium Economy: New York, San Francisco
    – Business: Minneapolis

    Prices are 18,750 miles, 30,000 miles, and 45,000 miles respectively, and you’ve still got time to book before the devaluation on September 8.
  5. American Express Membership Rewards has a 30% transfer bonus to Hilton through October 14, making the ratio 1,000:2,600.

    Hilton’s program is currently a dumpster fire sitting on the deck of a sinking oil tanker, but there can be use cases where this makes sense.
  6. JetBlue debuted its BlueFirst cabin, and I guess to prove the K-shape economic recovery model, is also reducing pitch in economy from 32″ to 30″.
  7. Smart & Final grocery stores have $10 off of your next purchase with a $50 One4All Ultimate gift card through Tuesday. Smart & Final deals are transactional, so scaling is generally easy.

Happy Wednesday!

How it’s going: The Hilton Honors program.

  1. The Rove travel and shopping portal added Copa ConnectMiles as a 1:1 transfer partner today. There’s also a 40% transfer bonus through the end of September, pushing this month’s ratio to 10:14, or 1:1.4 if you don’t like aesthetically pleasing numerology.
  2. Giftcards.com has a few interesting promotions:

    – 10-22% back through Capital One Shopping
    – $5 off of physical Visas with promo ECO5 (works with portals)
    – $10 Kroger gift card with a $100 virtual Visa with promo KROGER10
    – 10% off of virtual Visas with promo code SD10OFF
    – 10% off through Slickdeals

    Mastercard gift cards are no longer eligible for portal cashback for the second time in the last 30 days.
  3. Bilt has a 25-100% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic FlyingClub today only, with the size of the bonus based on your Bilt status and your willingness to spend Itchy and Scratchy bucks, err, Bilt Cash.
  4. The Barclays Carnival Rewards Mastercard has a new 50,000 point sign-up bonus after $1,000 spend in 90 days. The vitals:

    – Points are worth 1 cent each for Carnival redemptions
    – 2x earn at grocery and restaurants
    – 1x status point per dollar

    I reached out to ask if you get priority onboard water slide access with the card, and the pressroom said “What?” so I guess I like those odds.

Happy Tuesday!

For some reason not all the waterslides need priority access.

  1. Air France / KLM FlyingBlue is devaluing mileage redemptions by introducing three fare classes for all cabins on September 8: Light, Standard, and Flex. Light means fewer or no checked bags, no refunds, seat assignments carry a fee, lounge access isn’t included. Standard is fairly close to the status quo, and Flex includes free changes and refunds. How is this a devaluation? Let’s look at low-level business class transatlantic award redemption costs:

    – Light: 60,000 miles
    – Standard: 75,000 miles
    – Flex: 110,000 miles

    So what you used to get for 60,000 miles will now cost you an extra +15,000 miles. It brings me absolutely no pleasure to report that I thought we’d see a devaluation when Tiffany Funk took over as the FlyingBlue leader. I also think we haven’t seen the last FlyingBlue devaluation in the coming year. Spend any FlyingBlue miles you have quickly.
  2. Kroger stores will have a 4x fuel points promotion Friday through Sunday on third party gift cards excluding Amazon and fuel retailer gift cards.

    Best Buy is still hard out there, but Best Buy also isn’t the only game in town.
  3. Meijer mPerks has a promotion for 10,000 points with $100+ in Mastercard gift cards through Tuesday, limit one per mPerks account.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  4. Citi Merchant Offers has a card linked offer for $50 off of $400+ in JetBlue spend through September 30.
  5. Bilt added Equinox redemptions for its Itchy and Scratchy Cash for classes and spa sessions. The redemption amount is tied directly to your Bilt Status. There are also coupons for new Equinox memberships which are, uhh, something.

    Coming soon: An Equinox credit card. Source? I made it up, but watch for it anyway.

Happy Thursday!

Equinox personal training session, courtesy of Bilt.

  1. The PenFed Pathfinder Visa is ending its $95 annual fee waiver for checking account holders on September 28. The card has been popular with churners even though ongoing spend is lame (even with its shenanigans) because points are worth about 0.85 cents for gift card redemptions, and those don’t even sell at face value. But, some churners had 10+ Pathfinder cards, why?

    There’s an annual $100 airline credit that works for effectively anything. That’s not going away, but soon you’ll be paying $95 for that $100 credit which sounds like a bad deal to me.
  2. CardPointers alerted the community that American Express Offers has finally implemented BEGIN; INSERT ...; COMMIT; in their code base, and as a result you’re no longer able to add the same offer to multiple cards.

    If you’re a CardPointers user, I’d look over those settings.
  3. The American Express Bonvoy Brilliant had another, mostly popup-free link surface. The heightened offer of 150,000 Bonvoy points and a $250 statement credit after $6,000 in spend in six months remains.
  4. Staples in store has fee-free $200 Mastercard gift cards through Saturday, limit nine per transaction. A good way to clock these is reader Ryan’s http://officesupplygiftcards.com/.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  5. American Express Offers has an offer for a $250 statement credit with $2,000+ spend on Delta Airlines booked through AmEx Travel by August 31.
  6. Aeroplan has an award sale for “up to 25%” off of points bookings on Air Canada metal for travel booked by tomorrow and flown between September 8 and June 30, 2027.
  7. Cathay Pacific has a promotion for 800 miles back on every 5,000 Asia Miles spend on award flights in economy and premium economy, booked by August 27, and flown between September 10 and December 10. Registration is required.

Happy Monday friends!

AmEx puts their new SQL skills to use against churners.